Deal Talks

Krzysztof Wróbel, CFO and Management Board Member at Światłowód Inwestycje (S-I), discusses fibre financing and consolidation in Poland, key lender priorities, monetisation and take-up trends, and the company’s fibre rollout and M&A strategy.S-I’s landmark fibre refinancing – 1:02What lenders value in fibre operators – 3:03S-I’s rollout and acquisition strategy – 5:37Key risks and success metrics in fibre M&A – 10:11Consolidation trends shaping Polish fibre – 12:53Copper switch-off and fibre’s strategic importance - 16:46The next phase of fibre market growth – 19:36

Scott Baker, Managing Partner at Oak Hill Capital, discusses US fibre consolidation, how new pools of capital are reshaping the market, and where Oak Hill sees the greatest opportunities.Oak Hill’s US fibre consolidation outlook – 1:38 Lessons from scaling Metronet into a major FTTH platform – 3:47 Build vs buy market dynamics – 6:01 Bolt-on acquisition strategies – 8:07 Regional consolidation strategy – 9:31 Assessing the next phase of consolidation – 12:46 New pools of capital in the fibre market – 13:39 

Sachit Ahuja, Co-President of Tillman Global Holdings, discusses how 2025 shaped TGH’s investment strategy and its outlook for 2026, including the private tower market, a growing focus on US fibre, and global datacentre development.US tower market outlook for 2026 (0:46)Build-to-suit yields in the private tower market (4:10)Market shifts toward longer hold periods and patient capital (6:34)Expanding focus on fibre and open-access fibre (8:48)Entry into datacentres and defining edge assets (11:45)Energy transition as a standalone investment opportunity (14:07)

Simon McCormick, CCO of Echelon Data Centres, discusses how the dynamics between datacentres and utility companies are evolving in line with the changing risk-return profile of greenfield datacentre development across Europe and the US. The JV partnership between Echelon and Iberdrola - 00:50 American/European approaches to the datacentre-utility-investor paradigm - 2:35 Risk perceptions and impact on traditional developer-led models - 5:20 Why Spain works; will the JV model work elsewhere? - 9:37 The Madrid-Sur project and future scalability - 13:05 

Emmanuel Becker, CEO of Mediterra DataCenters, discusses the importance of colocation datacentres in Southern Europe and beyond, integrating acquired assets, new M&A opportunities, and his mission to shift the focus to Tier II markets. Identifying a gap in the DC market – 1:55 A new era of digital acceleration – 9:40 Mediterra’s M&A approach – 13:39 The crucial importance of Tier II markets – 16:51 Planning mid-voltage DCs in Southern Europe – 21:40 

Jake Robson, Co-Shareholder at Greenberg Traurig, discusses datacentre consolidation, private credit as alternative funding, and navigating geopolitical challenges, sustainability and talent gaps.Datacentre consolidation, strategic investor involvement - 2:25 Private credit as an alternative funding source in APAC - 7:12 Navigating rising costs from US-China tariffs - 8:13  How Chinese hyperscalers are navigating geopolitics - 10:17 Sustainability efforts and impact on deal structures - 11:44 Addressing talent gaps - 13:46 

Brian McMullen, Managing Partner & Co-Founder of Snowhawk and James Trout, CEO of CleanArc, discuss their partnership and what capital foundations are essential to create future-proof datacentre platforms.Snowhawk and CleanArc’s paths since inception – 0.35 Datacentre investment landscape over 36 months – 4.20 Unpacking Snowhawk and CleanArc’s tie-up – 10.50 Locating geographic opportunities – 14.50 Capital allocation avenues – 18.30 Factoring in energy resilience – 21.00  

Julian Cunningham-Day and Rich Jones, Partners at Linklaters, discuss deal trends in the European fixed line and fibre NetCo space, including what it takes to create a NetCo, the current market motivations behind their formation, and potential risks.  Defining NetCos and carveouts from integrated operators - 01:09Creating new avenues for new types of investors - 05.50Practicalities of establishing a NetCo - 08:43Timelines to deal execution - 12.30Variations on the ‘NetCo’ concept to achieve different aims - 18:35

Uzi Hadar, CFO at EdgeCloudLink (ECL), the first fully off-grid, hydrogen-powered, modular datacentre-as-a-service provider, discusses the company's sustainability solutions for datacentres, its planned projects and financing plans. What differentiates ECL’s model - 2'44 Financing plans and investment proposition - 12’19 Types of investors for this model - 17'00 Prospective tenant profile - 23'22 

Blue Owl's Head of Digital Infrastructure and Founder of IPI Partners Matt A'Hearn discusses current US Datacentre market risks and investment strategies. Matt talks all things power, site selection, evolving debt financing structures and Blue Owl's build, own, develop invest strategy in the US Datacentre market.  01:26 - Integrating Stack into the Blue Owl Platform 05:16 - Evolution of risk analysis for developers and financers 06:23 - Power: PPAs, grid connection and site selection 11:31 - Build, own develop, invest method deep dive 13:50 - Blue Owl's pipeline: greenfield and M&A dynamics 

Randy Brouckman, CEO of EdgeConneX, a global datacentre provider, discusses market expansion plans, investment structures, plus what it takes to manage a global datacentre platform. Randy won the CEO of the Year Award at the TMT M&A Awards EMEA 2025.  

Klaus Hoelbling, TMT Partner and Managing Director at consultancy AlixPartners, discusses the nature of the German and wider European fibre market for 2025, including obstacles and the importance of the state’s involvement in supporting new rollout.  

Dwayne Gibson-White is part of the EY-Parthenon Digital Infrastructure team. He discusses power allocation, hybrid financing solutions and diversification of M&A activity within the digital infrastructure space as well as credit case comparisons between fibre and datacentre investment. 

Robert A. Yu, CFO at Philippine broadband operator Converge ICT Solutions, discusses the challenges and opportunities transforming the fibre landscape in the Philippines, including how to overcome barriers to network expansion, monetisation strategies, and setting investment and valuation benchmarks in this market.  

Sarah Overbaugh, CFO of Metronet, and Rising Star winner at the TMT M&A Awards USA 2024, discusses her career journey, insights into Metronet’s recent partnership with T-Mobile and KKR, new financing strategies, and the future of fibre broadband.  

Marc Zahr, Co-President and Head of Real Estate, Blue Owl Capital, discusses Blue Owl’s seismic entrance into the datacentre market, including its recent acquisition of IPI Partners, Blue Owl’s pipeline and future investment strategy. 

Quynh Tran, deputy head of Structured Finance, Americas at SMBC and Matthew Lindgren, executive director of Private Placements, Americas at SMBC discuss the datacentre US private placement market, including the execution of the first deal in the sector, challenges, opportunities and pipeline predictions. 

Allan Bertie, head of European investment banking, discusses M&A trends in digital infrastructure and technology, including emerging deal opportunities, valuations and pipeline predictions.

Can we expect a return of large US telecom tower deals in 2024? Jennifer Fritzsche, co-head of North American Telecom and Digital Infrastructure at Greenhill & co, discusses the telecom tower market including M&A and dealmaking opportunities across the Americas region and the key themes impacting industry players in 2024.

Richard Lukaj and James Henry, Senior MDs and Co-Founders at Bank Street Group, discuss the US fibre market, including the strengths and strains posed by current market conditions, as well as opportunities for investors, financiers and operators. 

Simon Walsh, CEO of UK software giant OneAdvanced, discusses the company’s PE shareholder structure, five-year growth plans, and the impact of AI on software business models. 

Raj Anubhav, CFO of Aligned, discusses the opportunities around the burgeoning ABS market in the US, deep diving into the benefits and challenges of ABS versus other models, and some of the innovative bi-lateral structures being employed. 

Ajit Pai, partner at Searchlight Capital and former Federal Communications Commission chairman, discusses opportunities around upcoming BEAD funding, the US broadband M&A landscape and regulatory changes to watch, including the return of net neutrality rules.

Dagan Kasavana, Founder and CEO of Phoenix Tower International, discusses the firm's recent Cellnex Ireland deal, global acquisition opportunities, and emerging trends in the towerco sector.  

Tomas  Gärdfors, partner at Baker Botts, discusses the evolving relationship between datacentres and the energy transition, including power constraints, financing models and timelines for change.